Life's True Promise
by TERMINATORprime
Summary: What does life promise? What does that promise bring? Death, but what is death? My second chance at life and I still don't know what death is even when it surrounds me on a daily basis. Unable to stop it I learn that life only has a single promise, a single promise that can never be broken. SI rated M for safety.


**Author note**

 **Hello all. Here is a story I've had stuck in my head for sometime and only managed to put it down on paper now. Now that I'm truly on a vacation I can use this to put up a few chapters. For those who are expecting or waiting for an update on my other story I apologise but I really wanted to get this story out though do expect an update in the next 2-3 days. This chapter is certainly shorter than what I normally put out, it should only be for this chapter.**

 **And onto the story!**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Naruto nor make a profit from this!**

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Chapter 1

Death one of life's only promises but what that promise means no one truly knows. Life's biggest question "What happens after death"? The answer? Some fear it, some deny it, some relish in it while some accept it but the fact remains that death is inevitable. The only thing we know about it is that it denies us the privilege to eternally see, love and hate whoever it is that's being told to fulfil one of life's only promise. Only during my years in high school did I realise this and truly understand what death meant or rather I truly understood that we have absolutely no understanding of death.

I came to fear death, while I would accept it when it happens I still feared it. The lack of knowing what would happen is what I feared. If I didn't understand something, I'd change that but with death I'm unable to change my understanding of it. The country I've lived and grown up in is filled with heavy amounts of crime, prejudice, hatred and an underline, unspoken racism that lingers about from past events that didn't nothing to calm my fear of death.

So I wasn't surprised at all to hear a sudden shout followed by the sound of class breaking. The gun shots that followed also weren't a complete surprise but the suddenness of it did set everyone in the area on high alert. Running to find cover is generally the best course of action and planned on doing just that.

The sudden burning sting in my chest however said otherwise. Life flashing past your eyes is a load of shit, the only thing that followed that searing, blinding pain was a loss of vision and then nothing, absolutely nothing. I didn't even get time to register or think about what had just happened.

Just as suddenly as my vision disappeared it reappeared just without the pain that came before. My body felt wet and the cold breezed caused me to shiver and gasp. My sharp gasp brought a fresh cool breath of air, a breath that felt has if I was coming up for air after being underwater for too long.

The urge to move to clear my blurred vision and to curl up to keep myself warm wasn't something I could resist. However, the movement of my body brought great confusion as it felt small, uncoordinated, tiring but most of all weak. It wasn't the type of weakness you feel after a good tiring workout session, or the type you feel when your arm is numb from sleeping on it too long. No it felt as if I didn't have the natural strength that comes with growing up, the strength I've learnt to control my whole life. It felt foreign, different, unsettling and nerve wreaking.

I quickly became aware of my body along with the feeling of being held and, cleaned? With my mind becoming more focused I could hear sounds but what the sounds were I have no clue. It honestly sounded like a mash and clash of random sounds. I couldn't not tell any of them apart, each was sound as loud and as foreign as the next.

Through years of having to deal with oversensitive hearing I blocked it all out, allowing a peaceful silence. All sound had stopped flowing into my ears all sound but one, one that vibrated throughout by body coming from deep within my chest, the sound of a new born baby wailing. As soon as I realised it was me that was crying like that I stop whether it was from my own confusion or the new warm arms and hands I found myself in is still unclear to me even to this day.

The one of two things I clearly remember from that day was the warmth and love I felt from being held in those arms, the warmth and love that only a mother can give to her new born child. A warmth and love I would never feel again. The second thing I can clearly remember is the foreign, calming and relaxing substance flowing and coursing through my body, covering me like a warm blanket.

While being held in my new mother's arms I realised what has happened. I'd died, been killed only to be reborn. I rejoiced in that I could live again, or is it still living seeing that I can remember my past life? Either way I was happy as my will to live seems to be just as strong if not even more so than it used to be. Little did I know at the time what my rebirth would bring.

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The next few months after, how many I don't know, where a blur. Nothing made sense though that might have been my way to allow my mind and body to grow in order to handle all the information it could receive. Time seemed to speed by and next thing I knew there was chaos. I remember being hastily shuffled around, a small amount of liquid going down my throat followed by hazy and dizziness then nothing.

During the first few months I only come to know the single set of arms that would hold me for most of the day. Within these arms I felt warm, safe and happy from all the love, gentleness and kindness they gave off. I quickly came to love my new mother and just like in my last life I'd cherish her and love her with all I have.

When my consciousness returned a heavy sense of dread, emptiness and sadness came over me and the foreign arms that currently held me didn't help one bit. These arms while they had a gentle and kind warmth, they lacked the love that my new mother gave. I learnt quickly in my past life to trust me gut instincts especially when it came to family.

In my past life I would always know when a family member I've meet died. There have been a few times during the night where I'd suddenly wake up with this harsh feeling of emptiness and later that day I'd learn that someone in the family had died. That feeling returned with a vengeance when my grandfather died. I've never felt like that before the sense and feeling of complete emptiness was overwhelming. Due to my inability to do anything that day I couldn't go into school.

However, the way I felt when my grandfather died pales in comparison to how I felt when I woke up. The pain and emptiness overwhelmed me, killed a part of me, stopped my ability to cry. I was greatly saddened that I couldn't cry for a person I greatly wished I could see her smile, see her cry, see her love, see her hate, see her eyes. I wouldn't hear her voice, her laugh, her pride in me, her disappointment in me, her anger and worst of all I wouldn't hear her say 'I love you'.

I wouldn't get to say 'I love you too' with all my heart, for when I woke up I knew that my mother whose name I didn't even know was no longer in this world for myself and others to enjoy and cherish her presence.

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A few months have passed since that dreadful day and while the pain and emptiness I felt diminished it never completely disappeared and I had a feeling it would never faded away completely.

My vision cleared and refined well over the months and to a point I'd never known in my past life. My vision in my past life was downright pathetic. Without glasses anything from beyond my hands fully stretched out in front of me was blurred but now my vision was so sharp and precise it utterly amazed me. I could see further than I ever could even with glasses and at a frightening level of detail.

Thanks to my vision I could work out where I had reincarnated into. After a while I gathered I was in some Japanese or Chinese based culture. The peoples face structure and building designs being a dead giveaway. I also had worked out that wherever I was had a distinct lack of technology that I'm used to, indicating I was in an ancient based time or we were really poor and miles from any form of civilization. I highly doubt the last bit seeing that I'm in an orphanage or child care centre considering that there are, from what I can gather, at least 15 other children around.

My hearing on the other hand, nothing had changed. I still had to block out everything least I wanted my ears to thud and bleed from the level of noise. I had to resort to wearing ear plugs which a caregiver kindly placed in my ears. From what I could see there were two caregivers both with long soft brown hair. The one that attended to me the most had pupilless charcoal black eyes which I admit scared me a bit from the unusualness I'm used to. The other had the same colour eyes as her hair and just as pupilless as the first. They looked like sisters from the similar face structure they shared.

Thanks to my hearing for a while the caregivers no doubt thought I was deaf considering my lack of reaction to noise and sound. And when they took me to a clinic, hospital type place which I could easily tell from the smell. What I couldn't tell if it was a hospital or clinic as the size suggested clinic to me but I could be wrong considering the time I was in.

Honestly at this point why I didn't work out exactly where I was at that moment still eludes me. The familiar big green gate I could see over the shoulder of my caregiver should have been a dead giveaway. The style of the village I seemed to be in should have also hinted as to where I was but at the time the only thing going outside on the way to the clinic hospital cemented was that I was in an ancient time period.

When we entered the doctors room and I saw him for the first time I froze. It wasn't him that made me freeze rather what was on his forehead. An all too familiar headband with a metal plate on it. The symbol in the centre of the metal plate made a lot of things click into place. Why everyone seemed Japanese or Chinese, why I was in an ancient based time period, why I could feel a constant blanket like warmth running throughout my body, why I was an orphan, why my mother died.

A circular leaf pattern sat proudly in the middle of the metal plate. A pattern that symbolled the doctor's allegiance in front of me. A pattern that said I was in a place with war, hatred, superhuman feats, a place filled with Shinobi and Kunoichi. A pattern that signified that I was in Konohagakure no Satō, in Hi no Kuni, in the land and time for Naruto.

I have been in this life long enough and experience enough pain to know that this wasn't a dream. Whether it was hell, heaven or a new life has yet to be decided.

While the doctor continued to see if I was deaf or not, I'd rather focus on the fact that I'm in the world of Naruto. A violent world while not any more violent than the world I originally came from but certainly more intimate and certainly guaranteed involvement. From this moment I knew I would become a Shinobi if to at least try and guaranty that I'll live longer.

Knowing that I was in Konoha I could plan and recall what happens. Being a big fan and a starting fan-fiction writer I knew a lot about the world of Naruto and using that knowledge I'd do what I could and where I could. The only thing I needed to expand on my plan and which plan I would follow through was to determine when in Naruto I am and who I was.

Thanks to my hearing problem I have yet to hear my name for this life and the lack of mirrors meant I still didn't know what I looked like. When the meeting with the doctor ended the caregivers must have been told that I'm not deaf and rather in fact the complete opposite of it and the ear plugs that where put in my ears at least told me they knew and tried to do something about it.

I guess being the age I was I found it hard to determine how much time has passed since my birth and my mothers death. The small party that was randomly held for me one day told me that I had just turn one years old. The party was small and nothing major just a fair amount of more attention and a present near the end. I didn't want anything more than that, never been a big party person.

It was only a few weeks after my first birthday that I finally learnt my name. This was thanks to my mind being able to finally process and handle all the sounds that my ears could hear and pick up. While it was only for an hour or so a day in which I allowed myself to hear things it was still something.

Most of the times I could see the caregivers didn't bother to speak to me and resorted to hand jesters and pointing to communicate with me. They did however speak when they realised I was allowing myself to hear things and it was through these moments that I learned a few more things.

One - They spoke Japanese which I easily recognised but couldn't understand the majority of it as I was still in the process of learning Japanese in my past life.

Two – We were in a time of war which I got from the parts I could understand of what they were saying.

Three – That the majority of my planning was thrown out the window.

I had a brief plan of what to do and kind of knew how to do it provided I knew where in the timeline of Naruto I was. Plan was mostly simple at this point or more like important parts I needed to remember. The first event few events where the death of the first and second Hokage. Then it was the graduation of the Sannin from the academy. Then it was the fall of Uzushiogakure, then it was the death of Hatake Sakumo, Nawaki, Tsunade's brother, and Dan, Tsunade's lover, this would be around the start of the second war.

Kushina's kidnaping I don't think I should worry too much about. Kakashi's graduation would be around the time the Sannin faced Hanzō. The third war would start soon after the end of the second war. This would bring Obito's death, Rin's death and the original Akatsuki's presence in Amegakure.

The third war ends fairly quickly but Kyūbi's attack follows shortly. Akatsuki's overhaul comes in between the Kyūbi's attack and the start of the series along with Orochimaru's betrayal. Then the series start and we all know what happens then. However, whether all this will happen I have no clue. What! So! Ever! Why do I have no clue? It's rather simply and that's because my name is,

"Orochimaru."

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 **And there it is! I know its a SI fic but hey it's an idea I've had for awhile. I've read a decent amount of SI fics and I have seen lots of Naruto/Naruko, Sakura, Itachi, OC, Naruto's** **sibling** **, Sasuke and Itachi's** **sibling** **, Minato's sibling, Hinata, and many other inserts and have yet to see a Orochimaru one. Whether because people avoid using Orochimaru or haven't bothered I guess I'll find out.**

 **The style of writing is fairly different from my usual. This chapter is in the past tense for a reason and you'll see why in the next chapter.**

 **One thing I quickly gathered was that the timeline is weird and barely makes sense. The lack of info for anything before Naruto's time doesn't help. I've done what I can to make sense using data books, the manga, anime and what ever I could find. With the help of excel I've made a timeline and if anyone has a site which has accurate info please do share.**

 **Thanks let me know what you think of the 1st chapter.**

 **Till next time!**


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